Parachuting, Base jumping, HOW difficult!! Options

[Zazen]

[Kagetenshi]

Perhaps I should clarify my position:

When the rules ain't broke gamewise, them being unrealistic doesn't provide grounds to fix them.

When they are broke, I have no problem with people trying to find solutions that aren't broke that happen to be realistic. Just remember that first and foremost the goal is to find rules that work, rather than rules that are realistic.

~J

[RedmondLarry]

Consider also Cave Jumping: Photo or Article

[Shockwave_IIc]

ok since no one else is going to do it, here's my first try.

Packing the chute.
Parachuting (Packing) 4 (hehe just invented a new Specialization)
+2 Tn's if packing a none standard chute (ie Halo or Lalo)
Base time 1 hour sucess's can either be used to reduce this (by dividing the base time) or to make the chute open smoother.

No success indicates that the chute was not packed properly and that the lines are tangled (deep poopoo)

A result of all 1's means that the chute doesn't depoly at all. the chance's are you will be hitting the ground at 120MPH (160Mpt) Can you say hand of god. :eek:

This test Should be taken by the GM, because you won't know how well you did till you pull that cord. :)

It takes 3 secs for the chute to depoly fully, minus one sec per success that is assigned to make the chute open more smoothly.
If you hit the ground during this time resist 8S please impact helps at half value.

To Untangle the lines while falling is a Parachute(packing) 4 test (i believe that knowing how to pack a chute would help in untangleing one)
Modifiers +2 for being scared drekless, minus 1 per success on a willpower 6 test.

[EDIT]
Ooops forgot!! :D

Base time 30secs (10 Combat turns), it then takes a further 3 Secs for the chute to depoly. hitting the ground during the untangling time is not good (see falling rules SComp pg46, but remember Terminal Velocity is 160Mpt), during the 3 Secs for the chute to open is 8 Serious as above[/EDIT]

Thats the start. I'll come back with the landing and on target part at a later time.

Any comments??

[Kagetenshi]

8S? So it doesn't matter if I'm falling off a ten-foot platform or at terminal velocity, just as long as I pull that cord I'm resisting 8S?

~J

[Shockwave_IIc]

Well i came up with this figure from 2 angles. The first being Landing with a fully depolyed chute is 4M (I have to work off something, right?)
And jumpers have landed and suffered broken Leg(s) because the chute hadn't deployed properly. A broken leg is a Serious wound (at least in my eyes) and the power of 8 seemed like a good figure.

In realtion to jumping off a "ten foot platform" your not falling fast or long enough for the chute to help. This is nothing more then my opinion and (un)educated guess work at solving the problem. you need to have free fallen for at least 3 Sec for chutes to work, but again this is my opinion. Nothing more.

[tisoz]

Why not scrap the 10- base TN and set it at 4 for base jumping? Then add modifiers like LALO terrain?

[Kagetenshi]

Oh, I'm not arguing that the chute would help at 10 feet. I'm just saying that according to your rules the act of trying to use the parachute without enough clearance automatically sets the damage irrespective of distance fallen.

~J

[Shockwave_IIc]

Because the terrian your falling into shouldn't effect whether or not the chute opens. Hence why MFB suggested the 2 part test.

@Kage
What i've put is only a suggestion. You don't have to use it, it's not like i'm writing canon. Feel free to come up with something better.

[Kagetenshi]

I'm not going to use it at all. Thus far no one has ever come into a situation involving parachuting. I'm just poking your rules at the weak points so that if you continue to refine them they'll come out without those weak points, because it's almost certain that someone else down the line will poke at them once you implement them.

~J

[Shockwave_IIc]

Well how detailed do they have to be? Too much detail can spoil/ slow down a game. I was just going for easy, quick rules that were better then the ones in CC.

Besides commonsense does have to come into it. If i had a player trying to abuse the rules (these or other ones) They would get a "haha ya funny" Which is also one pf the reason why i didn't want to come up with the rules myself, because it's for a character concept I have.

And seriously you've never been in a game where someone has wanted to parachute??

[Kagetenshi]

Nope. Currently the only use of Parachuting I've encountered was in some backstory I wrote.

~J

[Dim Sum]

I have to say I don't really bother sticking exactly to the rules for everything, including parachuting. I think Shockwave is right that the rules need tweaking and while I like MFB's idea of a packing test, I don't think it needs a separate skill but could be another specialisation (apologies, MFB, if that is what you suggested as I vaguely remember a suggestion for a new skill only).

I tend to break down parachuting into two phases as I've mentioned before: before and after deploying the chute. Anyone else here who's jumped before will tell you that it's not all that easy to maintain a correct posture in freefall so skill is involved there to position yourself for chute deployment. After that, it takes skill to guide your descent to the desired location.

For base jumping, I'd eliminate the more of the before-deployment modifiers since the jumper clutches the drogue chute in his hand, anyway, and almost always let's it go immediately or very shortly after jumping (depending on the height from which they jump).

I use a base TN of 4 usually and tack on TN mods as I feel are appropriate and most times, the TNs work out in the 7-9 range because the PCs are trying something other than a straightforward freefall jump in ideal conditions.